House GOP Report: Holder Misled Congress on Journalist Surveillance

A House Republican committee report released Wednesday found that Attorney General Eric Holder misled Congress in May after he said that he had not been involved in any potential prosecution of media members. Holder made those comments after directly signing off in 2010 on a warrant to search the emails of Fox News’ James Rosen; the warrant suggested that Rosen was a probable co-conspirator in a national security leak.

The Justice Department claims that prosecutors never tried to bring charges against Rosen – but if that were the standard for potential prosecution, no search warrant could ever be issued. Holder’s exact wording: “with regard to the potential prosecution of the press for disclosure of material, that is not something that I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be a wise policy.” Democrats including Senator Chuck Schumer of New York have defended Holder, saying that there was no perjury thanks to the lack of any prosecution of Rosen. House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) said in early June that it would be “kind to say he misled Congress.”